Yesterday in Denver: (Prequel:Better days part 5)
by NobodyZHuman
Summary: While Jeremy is attending school in Denver, he makes a new friend. Kol isn't pleased when his brother sends him off to watch the younger Gilbert. But maybe the human was so bad.


**Yesterday in Denver**

 **Better days part 5**

 _Jeremy_

Jeremy was late. A small part of him didn't care the english class he was supposed to be in was boring. Taught by an older man who liked to go off on tangents about things completely unrelated to whatever topic they were going over. Most of the time, he just sat in the back of the class sketching in his notebook.

He was giving serious consideration to ditching when he collided with someone.

"Shit." He swore as he tried to wrap his arms around his books, trying stop them from falling to the ground.

"Hell." The other person swore, arms going out as he to tried to save the books. They both failed and the books scattered at Jeremy's feet.

He sighed and dropped down to his knees to start gathering them up, he was surprised when another set of hands appeared picking up a few of his books and them handing them to him, he looked up as the last one appeared in front of his face. His breath caught. The other student helping him wasn't just attractive, he was Jeremy's dream guy attractive.

"Got 'em all mate?", the stranger asked and Jeremy smiled. _Hot and has an accent, he thought, with a sigh._

"Yeah," He nodded pushing himself to his feet. "Thank you."

The stranger shock his head, "Don't thank me, I'm the one that caused you to drop them." He sighed, "Wasn't payin' attention." He shock a piece of paper in his hand, as if to blame the paper. Jeremy could see some of it and understood. It was a class schedule.

"You're new?" He blurted out and then blushed. _Way to go Jeremy, he scolded himself._

The other guy had to have noticed the blush because he smirked, "Yeah"

He had to fight off another embarrassing blush, because the man looked even better when he looked smug.

He cleared his throat, "Lost?

"Of course," The man complained, "This place is bloody huge." Jeremy tried to resist laughing but the annoyed look on the other's face was to much. The other man didn't even look offended but rolled his eyes.

"That's rude, mate." The man said after a few seconds but there was no real heat in his tone and Jeremy knew he wasn't actually upset about it.

"Here, let me see your schedule." His new friend handed it over. Jeremy was surprised to see that they both had several of the same classes, together. Including the one they were both very late for. He handed back the paper.

"You in luck, we have this class together. And your next one is just down the hall from me. Come on." He said and headed for their class.

He only took a few steps before he realized he hadn't introduced himself.

"I'm Jeremy." He said smiling at his new friend.

The other teen smiled back, "Kol."

… **..**

It was lunch the next day and Jeremy noticed Kol looked miserable. His friend didn't have any food, just a soda and kept frowning at the tray in front of Jeremy.

"What?" He asked, picking up a fry and sticking it in his mouth. Kol watched him and then rolled his eyes.

"That can't be good for you." Jeremy laughed.

"You sound like my mom. It's just a burger." Again Kol frowned at him. Then his hand reached out and he snatched a fry. "You should eat better, Jer." Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"I'll eat a salad tomorrow. Happy?" Kol grinned, and then stole another fry.

"Dude, how are you bitchin' at me over my fries then eating them."

Kol chuckled. "Because I can, mate."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

They fell into silence while he finished his lunch and Kol people watched. Something JEremy was notice the other teen seemed to do a lot.

"So this weekend, the family I stay with will be out of town. Wanna come eat junk food and play video games?" He asked, trying to hide his unease. He was sure Kol liked hanging around with him. They had eat lunch together both days and sat together in all three of the classes they shared. But hanging out together outside of school was different and he wasn't sure if his new friend would want to.

"Sure, just pop over?" Kol met his eyes, "Or staying over?" Jeremy took a breath. He was pretty sure Kol was flirting with him, something he had seen the other do with a few others, but he wasn't sure if it was flirting like oh, i like you or flirting cause Kol enjoyed flirting.

"Whichever." He said, trying to act like he hadn't noticed.

Kol's eyes narrowed a bit, but then he smiled. "I'll just come home with you friday after class." Again he was flirting and Jeremy was tempted to do it back. He liked guys, just fine, and he really liked Kol. But he was still hesitant. He never acted on his attraction to a guy before and didn't want to do so now. He wanted to wait and make sure that Kol's flirting was genuine.

So he just nodded and took a bite out of his burger. Kol huffed and looked away.

…...

Friday, he found himself nervous as hell. Luckily his last class was Kol free so the other man didn't notice him fidgeting. His leg was bouncing like made and his couldn't stop moving his hands. He kept mentally going over the food in the house and all the movies and video games he had in his room. He didn't' want to invite Kol over and then have his friend get bored and regret coming over.

He sighed as he looked at the clock, slowly ticking by. His class only had 5 minutes let but they were dragging on and on. He hadn't a clue what the teacher was going on about and instead of letting himself counting down the seconds he stared out the window and the door.

Only to bite his lip to stop a surprised laugh, when he noticed Kol outside the window making faces at the teacher. For a few second the other teen didn't notice he was being watched but when he saw Jeremy watching he grinned and went right back to it.

It should have seemed childish to him, what his friend was doing. But instead he felt himself relaxing, his nerves fading as he had to fight against laughing. Finally the bell rang and he jumped out of his chair, quickly grabbing his bag and darted out of the classroom.

He almost slipped on the smooth tile, but Kol caught his arms.

"Gotcha." Kol said, helping him remain on his feet.

He punched Kol in the shoulder, "Ass. Do you know how hard it was not to laugh."

Kol smirked, "don't know what you are talking about, mate." He punched him again.

"So, what are our plans this weekend?" Kol asked as they left the school.

Turned out that Kol sucked at video games. Jeremy had asked about it, and Kol just said he had been a little sheltered and that video games and movies weren't allowed in his house. Jeremy hadn't know how to react or what to say, so he went back to teaching Kol about his games.

Kol's reflexes were freaking amazing but he had no grasp of how to use the controller or what to point of the games were. Jeremy spent the better part the night, switching between games and explaining each one to his friend. He could tell Kol was getting frustrated but the end of the night, so he put the system away and put in a movie.

When he put the movie in and looked around his room, he froze. THey had been sitting on the floor playing video games but that wouldn't be comfortable to sit back and watch a movie. He looked at his bed and felt his face redden. Glad that Kol wasn't look at him, he pushed down his embarrassment.

"Bed?" He asked. Kol looked up from his phone and looked towards the bed. Then a slow smirk grew across his face and Jeremy knew the other was about to say something embarrassing.

"Wanna cuddle with me Jer?"

He bit the inside of his lip, " You wish." He replied moving around his friend and dropping on his he put himself on the edge, very aware of how small his bed was. Kol seemed to have no probably jumping on to the bed and pushing himself against him. Jeremy stiffened at first but when Kol didn't do anything else but watch the movie. He relaxed and the rest of the night was spent arguing over who was a better hero, Iron man or Captain America. They fell asleep like that.

Saturday was easier, turned out Kol wasn't a fan of being inside all day and dragged Jeremy out from lunch and shopping. Jeremy protested. He didn't have the money to go shopping, whoever Kol just grinned and said not to worry, he did.

He regretted agreeing by the time night fell and they made their way back into his room. Kol didn't know when to stop. The other teen bought everything that caught his or Jeremy's eye. When Jeremy figured that out he tried to not show interest in anything but it was like Kol could read his mind, and somehow he ended up with bags of new clothes and art supplies.

Sunday, he woke up to Kol poking him in the face.

"Jer….Jeremy…"

"What?" He grumbled and pushed Kol's hand away.

"I'm bored, mate." He sighed and rolled over.

"What time is it?" he asked pushing to sit up.

"Dunno. But I finished your history paper and your math."

He froze, trying to make sure he heard that right.

"You did my homework?" He asked looking over at Kol.

His friend grinned, "Yep."

"Thanks?" He said, not sure he should be thanking him. Because now he would have to go over it and make sure it was correct, though he was sure it was. Kol seemed to be genuinely smart, brillant, the man called himself, but Jeremy would still check. But he would also have to rewrite everything so someone didn't notice the different handwriting. Cause with his luck a teacher would and he would get into trouble.

"You're welcome." Kol said with a proud smile. Something Jeremy wasn't sure he had seen on his friends face before. He smiled back.

…..

Months passed and his friendship with Kol grew. It started off with little things, like Kol demanding he eat a little healthier at school and then splurging on junk food on the weekends. Then grew to Kol helping him with his homework or making fun of the teachers in hushed voices from the back of the classroom. Of course there was Kol's habit of spending money on him. Jeremy got better at setting limits on how much money his friend could spend on him, because if let unchecked Kol would just by everything. He was slow to figure out was the other man's way of showing he cared. Hours of texting and phone calls followed as did their weekend hangouts, which at some point Kol had started adding booze too.

The weekend were always his favorite, when it was just them in his room, laying on his bed watching whatever random movie Kol picked out. Sitting closer than should have been appropriate, normally he laid his head against Kol's chest and the other ran his fingers through his hair. It was the only intimate step he allowed himself to take with Kol. The night's Kol supplied liquor where the hardest, because the more he drank and the more Kol laughed, the more he wanted to kiss his friend.

Sure by now he knew the flirting wasn't just a game. Kol flirted with everyone, but it was different with him. But by the time, he had figured that out for sure, he had a best friend. Something he hadn't had in a long time and no matter how tempted he was to throw caution to the wind and accept Kol's advances he was scared to lose his friendship. So, he buried his desire.

…..

He should have known the second he saw his sister that everything was about to come crumbling down.

"Hey Jer." He had heard as he swung the back and turned around.

"Elena?" He asked, confused. But he smiled because he was happy to see her. He started to walk towards the gate.

When Damon turned around, he sighed, "What's wrong?" Because he knew if the vampire was here then something was wrong.

He tried not to flinch when his sister and Damon started in on the story of sire lines and if an original dies all the vampires ever turned died with them. He also tried not to get angry. He had been happy here. Away from it all. He was doing what he wanted, no threats of violence around every corner. No secrets from his sister or lies about how he didn't need to know what was going. And yet, here she was. Not visiting cause she wanted to see him but because she needed him.

"You guys come across the country so I could talk to a dead vampire?" He asked, trying to hide his anger. He rolled his eyes at Damon's comment, about dead vampires being redundant.

"Well I can't, I could talk to Viki and Anna because I knew them." He shoved his helmet into one of the cubbies and turned to face them. "I've never even met Rose."

"What good is you dying and coming back to life, if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you do." Damon asked in an annoyed tone. He rolled his eyes at his sister's friend. THe guy was a dick.

"Rose spent a lot of time running from Klaus as well," Elena stated, "She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use him as a connection?" He took a breath. He was about to say fine, when he saw Kol walk around the corner, his mood lifted at seeing his friend.

"Fine, fine. But can we do this later my friend just got here," And before the vampire could say something sarcastic, "And yes, Damon, I actually have some."

He kissed his sister on the chick and moved past them to greet Kol.

"Hey man," he said smiling. Kol returned the smile, but then something changed as Kol looked passed him. Jeremy stopped, there was a pained almost raged flash in his friends eyes before a smirk appeared and Kol walked past him.

He watched in shock as Kol took his bat and smashed it across Damon's face, the vampire falling to the ground. He sucked in a confused breath, "What the hell are you doing?" He shouted.

"Jeremy get back, he's an original." His sister warned. But he didn't move, couldn't move. Not even when Kol walked close enough to him to grab another bat out of the stand. He should have felt threatened or endangered but he didn't. His mind just couldn't wrap around the fact that Kol was a threat. Kol met his eye, just for a second and Jeremy was sure there was regret there. But again it disappeared to fast for him to know for sure.

"No hard feelings mate, but we aren't buds." Kol said, looking away from him and grabbing a new bat. Jeremy told himself to move. To stop the vampire, but he still didn't move. Not even when Kol started talking, his speech aimed at Damon.

"I'll never get used to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break." Kol lifted the bat to swing. But Damon moved faster, stabbing Kol with a piece of broken bat on the ground. Jeremy's heart stopped. He took a step towards them, towards Kol.

"Did you kill him?" He asked, his throat suddenly dry. _Please no, he prayed silently._

"No," Relief flooded through him, "but it will give us a head start."

Still, it took Elena grabbing his arm and dragging him away before he could move. He let her drag him to the car and then into a cheap motel. The whole time his mind played over his friendship with Kol. Had it all really just been a game to the vampire? A way keeping an eye on him? He didn't' cry as he thought about how close he had felt to Kol or how badly he had wanted more. He didn't even let tears form in his eyes as he thought of the nights he fell asleep next to the vampire.

When they were inside their room and Elena and Damon were still going on about him trying to reach out to Rose, all he really wanted to was pick up his phone and text Kol. Because he needed to know if it was all fake or if Kol had really been his friend.

When Elena's tone got a little more urgent he shoved Kol far from his mind.

"All right but I need to know something about her?" He half asked looking at Damon.

"Umm, well, she did this thing with her tongue." He rolled his eyes. Fucking Damon.

"Something that matters Damon." His sister insisted, sounding a little _jealous?_ Jeremy looked at her for a second and then back at Damon. Who to his surprise didn't give a witty come back.

He sat forward on the bed and spoke gently, " She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came she didn't fear it."

Suddenly she was there. Standing next to Damon. She looked at the vampire, then at him.

"You're hurting-," She said softly.

His sister unknowingly interrupted "I spent the last day with her, she definitely wasn't in paradise." Rose smiled, "It was in a dream he gave me."

"It was in the dream he gave her." He felt himself repeating to his sister.

"She's here." He said. He played messenger for the rest of their conversation, trying not to glare at his sister when Rose hinted at her and Damon being more than friends. Rose told them to wait and she would look into Mary's location. But before she was gone, she stopped at looked at him.

"Sometimes people do things they regret. They make choices they feel like they have do, for their family or loved ones, even if they do not want to. Sometimes our obligations, " She looked over at Elena, "out weight our own desires or wants." Then she gave him a sad smile and faded away.

…..

He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he sat in the car outside Mary's house. His sister and Damon had already gone in. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Kol's name and let his finger hover over the vampire's name. Would it be worth it? Call him or sending a message? Asking him about it all. Or should he just bury everything and try and pretend the last few months hadn't happened?

He sighed and clicked off his screen.

Closing his eyes he laid his head back and waited for Elena to come back out.

Of course, when she did, bitching about Kol getting to Mary first he felt pissed that he hadn't been able to go in with them. Though he wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't been there to look after his sister or because he wanted to see Kol. He made sure she was okay and then got back into the car.

As they drove he pulled out his phone again, Kol's name still pulled up.

He felt something in the air and turned to see Rose watching him.

"Are we there yet." She joked, he opened his mouth but she cut him off, "Don't tell them I'm here."

She lets out a breath, "They had a fight, I know you want to stop it, protect her from him but your young, you don't see what I see. It's not just that she makes him a better person, and she does. But he changes her too. Damon challenge her, surprises her, makes her question her life, beliefs. Stefan is different his love is pure, he will always be good for her. Damon is either the best thing for her or worst." She stopped, and he lowered his head. Thinking about what she was saying, though his mind was entirely on Elena and Damon.

"He is a lot like Kol." She said quietly, even though the others couldn't hear her. He looked up at her with a raised brow, _what was she getting at?_

"Kol is rash and dangerous, yes. But he also craves affection and attention. He acts out because it gets his siblings to pay attention to him, even if that attention is angry and violent. Affection is something hard to come by in his family, they all hide their feelings in fear of betrayal or having it used against them. I have only met Kol a few times over the years, but I think he truly wanted to be your friend. However, his loyalty to his family wouldn't allow it, not fully." She reached out and took his hand.

"I'm sorry." She whispered before she disappeared.

He looked back down as his phone. He took a deep breath, looking up to make sure the other two weren't paying attention to him, then typed out a text. " **Please tell me it wasn't all an act."**

He clicked his screen off and leaned back. Not sure Kol would text him back. But at least he had asked.

 ** _Kol_**

He had watched the younger Gilbert for the better part of two weeks before he decided he liked him. The young man was nothing like his sister. He was happy to go unnoticed in the back of his classes or sit alone at lunch, normally found sitting under a tree or against a low wall at the back of the main building, draw or sketching. It reminded him a little of his brothers. The way Elijah could fit into an group but enjoyed is alone time or how Nik could get lost in his art for days if no one stopped him.

Maybe that's why he compelled himself into the school and a few of the human's classes. It could have also been how attractive he found the human but no way he would admit that if Nik asked why he was suddenly attending the school. It was all too easy to bump into Jeremy when he was running late to class.

He waited until the right second and used just a bit of his true speed to place himself in front of the human. Jeremy hit his chest and cursed as he tried to catch his books.

"Hell." He muttered as he pretended to try a grab the books before the hit the ground. The human didn't even look at him, before he dropped to the ground and started trying to pick up all his books. Kol sighed and reached down to help.

Finally when he handed the younger man his books, Jeremy looked up at him. The caught breath heard and the skipped heart beat had been surprised. Neither of his brothers had mentioned the young gilbert was attracted to men. He smirked. This could be more fun than he thought.

"Got 'em all mate?" He asked, not hiding his flirtatious tone.

Jeremy's eyes widened and quickly stood up, "Yeah."Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I'm the one that caused you to drop them." He sighed, adding in a quilty smile. "Wasn't payin' attention." He fiddled with the paper the lady in the front office had given him, his class schedule. The movement caught Jeremy's attention, "You're new?

And oh, yes did Kol like the blush that spread across the young man's face.

He a smirk, noticing how Jeremy kept watching him, "Yeah."

He could hear Jeremy's heart beat, just slightly faster than normal and could smell the nervous sweat that was building as the human cleared his throat, "Lost?" Kol had to actually force himself not to show his vampire face. Because the young human was doing things to him that he hadn't expected and he wasn't sure if he just wanted to hold him close and drink him until nothing was left or drag him to his bed for a few days.

"Of course," He said, making himself focus, "This place is _bloody huge_." he said it a little dramatically and was pleased when JEremy started to laugh. It was a nice laugh and he found he didn't mind hearing it, even if it was aimed at him. Something he had killed others for.

After a few second he made a show of rolling his eyes, "That's rude, mate." Jeremy just smiled at him and asked for his schedule. He handed it over, already having memorized it.

Jeremy's face brightened and he smiled at him. "You in luck, we have this class together. And your next one is just down the hall from me. Come on." Kol found it a little adorable, not that he would say it outloud, that the human just walked off, expecting him to follow. But then he stopped and turned to look at him a sheepish smile on his face, " I'm Jeremy."

He only took a few steps before he realized he hadn't introduced himself.

"Kol." He said giving the human a smile.

Yeah, he was going to enjoy his time here. He would have to call Nik later and thank him.

…..

It wasn't hard to make friends with Jeremy. The boy was genuinely nice and easy going. He was polite to everyone, even their ass math teacher who liked to insult his students. Kol was sure the only reason he hadn't kill the man yet was because it would draw attention, and Nik would kill him.

He had not been impressed with the school's lunches. It smelled hurendos and barely tasted editable. But the second he took a fry off Jeremy's plate and watched how the human tracked it and then coughed a little and looked away, he found the food a lot more enjoyable. He eventually moved up to taking sips out of the human's drinks. Jeremy just rolled his eyes. The next day he bought an extra soda. It made Kol happy, but he pouted at Jeremy, who chuckled and thrust the can at him. Even so, he never brought another extra.

Kol also made a point to lecture the human about eating healthier. Partially because he felt the young man should be eating better and partially because he wanted to see what Jeremy would do. Jeremy had just promised to eat a salad the next day. Then had actually done it, it caused a strange warm feeling in Kol. He told himself it was because he liked being obeyed, but he wasn't sure he believed it. Even so he found himself telling the human to eat healthier and pointing out things he wanted to see him eat. Jeremy always sighed but listened.

…

He had been surprised when the human had invited him over for the weekend. It wasn't something he was familiar with. Sure, he had been around enough to know it was a thing. But it was a thing he had never done before. At least not in the way the human was implying. Though he would have been more than happy to spend a weekend with Jeremy in the way he was familiar with, but he got the idea Jeremy wasn't ready yet. Hell, half the time, he wasn't sure about the kids attraction to him, but then he would do something to get a blush.

When Jeremy had asked, Kol could smell the nerves on him and couldn't help but tease, "Sure, just pop over? Or staying over" He smirked and heard Jeremy draw in a breath. He almost frowned when Jeremy's muttered out a "Whichever." without a blush.

He smiled. "I'll just come home with you friday after class." Jeremy gave him a happy smile and nodded. Then when about eating his food.

Kol sat there watching him, it was a little frustrating, not being able to read Jeremy well enough to know if he should step up his flirting. He wasn't used to not being able to figure someone out. He had years of practice reading people, seeing the things they tried to hid and knowing what it was they wanted. But Jeremy was different. He was honest about almost everything. And even if he wasn't hiding or deny his attraction, he never pretended like he didn't notice Kol was doing it. Which made Kol sure he liked being flirted with, even if that was all it was. So, he kept up his flirting, hoping he could get Jeremy to open up a little and maybe explore more.

That weekend taught him a few things. First being he hated video games but enjoyed movies. But he also enjoyed the way, Jeremy cuddled up to him after he had fallen asleep. He had laid there for a few hours just listening to the human's heart beat, before his hunger had him sneaking out of the house. He rushed his feeding but was careful enough to make sure no body would be found, then he snuck back into Jeremy's room through the window. This time when he laid down and Jeremy moved closer, he allowed himself to drift off, his arm wrapped around the human.

…...

As time went by he found himself unwilling to push Jeremy to admit or deny his attraction. He enjoyed the strange limbo they lived in. Where at school, they joked and were friendly but not overly so. But at Jeremy's house on the weekends, he could pull Jeremy against him and run his fingers through the human's soft hair, and on the weekends he got the human buzzed he could pull him on top his lap on the couch and rest with his arms wrapped around him, his head resting on top of the humans. He was allowed to be close here, and he thirsted for it, almost more than he thirsted for blood. Though he did his best not to let the human see it. In fear that Jeremy would pull away, scared of his own feelings.

He knew he shouldn't allow himself these moments. Because sooner or later, sooner knowing his brother, Nik would call and he would have to destroy this strange peace he had found. He had debated more than once calling Elijah and asking for advice. But fear stopped him. What if Elijah told him to leave, now, before he got more attached. Or warned him that getting close would only give Nik something to use against him, if he needed it. A warning he knew was true. So, he never made the call.

….

When Nik called him, he knew. He knew this was over and he ignored the first call. Despite knowing his brother would be pissed at him. When it rang for the second time, he hesitated but answered it.

"Bit busy, Nik." He lied.

"Elena is on her way. Her and Damon are trying to figure out which sire line they are from. Don't let them." Klaus hung up and Kol stared at his phone for a second before he became aware that he was throwing it.

The small device smashed into the far wall and shattered into tiny pieces. It left him feeling unsatisfied as the anger in him grew. He turned around and kicked a hole in the wall closest to him. Next he picked up the coffee table and slammed it across his couch. From there he just smashed and broke everything he could get his hands on. Letting his fury out on the house, where he knew he couldn't hurt anyone, Jeremy. Something he was sure he hadn't ever had to worry about before. When he felt he was back in control he grabbed his keys and headed for the batting cages.

He hesitated at the corner. He could hear Jeremy talking to his sister, and he knew his fri- the human, well enough now to know he was upset.

"You guys come across the country so I could talk to a dead vampire?" Not just upset, but angry. Jeremy was hurt that his sister wasn't here to see him. He sighed, understanding that feeling all to well.

He listened as Jeremy told them he couldn't contact Rose, a vampire he remembered a little fondly. Klaus hadn't been found of her, but Kol liked anyone who could piss off his brother and live.

"What good is you dying and coming back to life, if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you do." The annoying Salvator asked, and Kol had to refine from speeding over and ripping his heart out for mocking Jeremy dying. He didn't want to hear this any more, as Elena started to talk, he pushed away from the wall he was hiding behind and turned the corner.

It hurt, when Jeremy smiled at him. Because he knew this was it, he was about to betray his young friend and he knew he would regret it for years to come.

He watched Jeremy kiss his sister check and smiled when JEremy greeted him. HE tried to hide his own pain and angry but he saw Jeremy's face shift to confusion and knew he had failed. Not able to say anything he walked past Jeremy and smashed his baseball bat across Damon's face. Taking great satisfaction in hurting him. The bastard shouldn't have be mean to Jeremy.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jeremy shouted from behind him. His sister shouted out that he was an original, and he actually smelt the pain that came off Jeremy.

Burning his own feelings, he put on the mask he normally saved for his family, "No hard feelings mate, but we aren't buds." he lied as he walked over to get a new bat. He almost stopped when Jeremy didn't back away from him, hell the idiot didn't even smell afraid, he just looked confused.

He turned his back on his friend, grinning at Damon, enjoying the idea of hurting him some more.

"I'll never get used to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break." He lifted the bat but he was surprised as Damon shoved a piece of wood throw him.

…..

When he woke up, still on the floor a few people were standing around him. Some calling for help some just staring. The all gasped when he pushed to his feet.

He cursed and grabbed the closest one, compelling him to forget and stealing his phone. He made quick work of making the others forget and called his brother.

"Who turned Rose?" He asked when Nik answered.

"Mary." His brother said without pause. Then seemed to think about it, "Why?"

"That's where they are headed. Text me her address." He hung up and raced back to his car. He slipped off his jacket and shirt. He reached into the back and pulled out his duffle bag, the same one he used for weekends, he sighed, and pulled out a new shirt. He had another jacket laying across the passenger seat and slipped it one when he was dressed.

He gritted his teeth as he drove around waiting for Nik to text him back. The pain and hurt he had seen and smell on Jeremy left his stomach in knots, and he wanted to hate the human for making him feel like this. Weak, attached, and worried. He heard his steering wheel creek as he grip got to tight, he growled and relaxed his hands.

When Nik finally texted back, he headed straight for Mary's. The drive came him enough time to stop and buy a new phone with his old number, tossing the strangers out the told himself he was doing it so his brothers and sister could reach him but he also knew that was the number Jeremy had. It also gave him time to calm down, and made him debate with himself about reaching out to Jeremy when they were both back in Mystic Falls. He knew the human wouldn't trust him again. But maybe, maybe he could get him to listen enough, that he could protect him from his brother.

Kill Mary hadn't been hard. Hell, he didn't even feel bad about it. The woman had always been a little off and just this side of obsessed with his family. He did enjoy starting Damon and Elena when they finally showed up.

And beating and taunting Damon had been entertaining.

He lied to Elena when he said his brother said she wasn't to be harmed, Klaus had said that she was not to die, nothing about hurting her. But he didn't want to hurt Jeremy anymore than he already had, so he refrained from hurting her.

When he rushed out of the building he stopped long enough to look at the car, Jeremy was sitting in. The human was staring blankly at his phone. And Kol wondered what was going through his head. He was tempted to go over, tap on the window and see what happened. But he didn't want a fight, not with Jeremy. So, he took off, unnoticed by the young man.

It was about an hour later when he was driving back towards Mystic Falls, that his phone beeped.

He saw Jeremy's name across the top and pulled over. Then read the text message, " **Please tell me it wasn't all an act."**

He stared at it for a second, actually surprised by the text. While he had wanted to hear from Jeremy he hadn't actually expecting him to reach out.

Though now that the human had, he had no idea how to reply. Did he lie? Push him away. Or tell him the truth and hopped he was believed?

" **It wasn't."** He finally replied, then turned off his phone.


End file.
